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With soldiers home, U.S. shouldn't be afraid to stand up to China

Posted: Friday, April 13, 2001

The United States did what it had to do to get its people home safely. As frustrating as it might be to wait 11 days for a resolution and watch the U.S. acquiesce on some major issues, the important thing is we were able to use diplomacy to gain the soldiers' release.

To reach this goal, the United States had to swallow hard and apologize for practically everything but flying an airplane in the same hemisphere as China. We apologized for our airplane doing the bump with a Chinese fighter jet. We apologized for the fact that a Chinese pilot died, even though there was no clear evidence that we caused his death. We even apologized for making an emergency landing in Chinese territory after our plane suffered serious damage in the mid-air collision. With all of the genuflecting on our part, we should probably be happy that we're not footing the food and lodging bill for the 11 days China detained our 24 soldiers on Hainan island.

Now that these Americans are back home, however it may be time for the kid gloves to come off. Between Taiwan and renewing our trade deal, the U.S. and China are facing some major hurdles in the next year. While it's important for the lines of communication to stay open, we cannot kowtow to every Chinese demand.

President Bush, who has not taken a hard line with China up until this point, is starting to send signals about the kind of damage U.S.-China relations have suffered. ''China's decision to prevent the return of our crew for 11 days is inconsistent with the kind of relations we have both said we want to have,'' Bush said Thursday in an official welcome to the 24 soldiers.

It is important to remember that we aren't indebted to China in any way as a result of this situation. By holding our citizens against their will, restricting the access of American diplomats to the crew and seizing our airplane, the Chinese have done little in the way of trying to improve Sino-American relations. While they did finally release the soldiers, they have given no indication of when or if the airplane would be returned.

Even though the Chinese pilot who died in the accident had several close encounters with American planes in the past and the U.S. reported his reckless flying in those instances, China has accepted no responsibility for the mid-air collision. As far as it is concerned, the U.S. is the only party with any share of the blame.

Chinese officials have said they want to resume talks with the U.S. and continue to seek diplomatic solutions to some of the remaining conflicts. We sincerely hope their intentions are genuine. It is in the best interest of both our countries to maintain open and honest discussions. However, the Chinese should know that, without 24 American lives hanging in the balance, negotiations won't be so lopsided in the future.

This article published in the Athens Daily News on Friday, April 13, 2001.